to the book of Matthew, Matthew's
gospel chapter 13. I'd like to begin reading with verse
24, read down through verse 30, and then verse 36 through 43.
24, verse 24 of Matthew 13, another parable put he forth unto them, saying,
The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed
in his field. But while men slept, his enemy
came, and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But
when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then
appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder
came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed
in thy field? From whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath
done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and
gather them up? But he said, Nay, lest while
you gather up the tares you root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until
the harvest. And in the time of harvest I
will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares,
and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into
my barn. Verse 36, Then Jesus sent the
multitude away, and went into the house, and his disciples
came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares
of the field. He answered and said unto them,
He that sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is
the world. The good seed are the children
of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked
one. The enemy that sowed them is
the devil. The harvest is the end of the
world, and the reapers are the angels. therefore the tares are
gathered and burned in the fire so shall it be in the end of
this world the son of man shall send forth his angels and they
shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and them
which do iniquity and shall cast them into a furnace of fire there
shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine
forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father. Who hath ears
to hear, let him hear." I read the words of our Lord's
parable unto the multitude and then his explanation of his parable
unto his disciples. And I do that that I might be
able to speak for a while upon the last part of verse 43 along
with the companion verse to be found in Luke chapter 8 and verse
18. But let's think just a little
bit about this parable. I thought about this parable
Thought about these truths Bible truths Which are set before us
in this parable when witnessing the beginning of harvest up in
our neck of the woods and began to see the harvest coming in
and I began to think about the words of our Lord here in this
parable and He explains it. I know you listened and as we
read but let's just look at it just a little bit and we'll go
through it and then I want to say a few things about hearing
the Word of God or right before we leave this morning but here
in Matthew chapter 13 beginning with verse 37 he answered and
said to them that is the disciples who wanted to know who wanted
to understand this parable You know, our Lord used parables
to reveal heavenly truths. There were earthly stories that
revealed heavenly truths. And so the disciples sometimes
were very slow in picking up. You know, the Bible talks about
some of God's children in the book of 1 Corinthians, I think
it's chapter 3, about them being babes in Christ, and them not
being able to partake of the meat of the Word, and so our
Lord, being compassionate and understanding the hearts of all,
He did explain this parable. He went on to do that in order
that the disciples would not be in the dark or that we would
not be in the dark as to the meaning of this parable. First
of all, He talks about the sowing of the good seed and said that
the one that does the sowing of the good seed is the Son of
Man. Now, beloved, you can say what
you want to about preaching and about who does the preaching,
but all preaching that is of God is done by the Son of Man. The Son of Man Himself, the Lord
Jesus Christ, came, the Bible said, and preached peace. He
preached, and He's still preaching through those that He's called
and through those that He's given the message to. And so in whatever
age it is, the Son of Man is the one that's sowing the good
seed. He's the one that is sowing the
seed of His children. We're told in verse 38 that the
field is the world. And you know that we've been
given a commission to go into all the world and to preach the
gospel. We're to preach the gospel anytime
we have opportunity, wherever. Our brother Randy mentioned this
morning that all God's children are witnesses. They all are to
be, if necessary, if God so leads, to give those in their generation
reason to martyr them. They're the Lord's martyrs. We're
all to be witnesses of our Lord in the world. And he said, the
good seed are the children of the kingdom. God sows his children
where he would have them to be. Sometimes you wonder, well, there's
not very many in some places. In other places, there's a whole
lot more. God knows his children. He knows
every one of them. The foundation of God standeth
sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are His. God
knows His people, and He knows where He's sown them. He had
a reason for sowing you where you are. He had a reason for
putting you where you're at. That's the reason why that we
should not jump up on every whim and move on and move away and
run from the obligations and responsibilities that God has
placed upon us. We have a need to be where we
are seeing the Lord has sown us there. That's where the need
is. Now the seed are the children
of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked
one. Now we were told by our Lord when he told this parable
that while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the
wheat and then went his way. So the enemy has also been out
and about and has been active. The enemy is very, very active. The tares are the children of
the wicked one. These are the lost that are sown
in the community of saints, sown in the assembly of the saints.
There is a mixed multitude in all churches. It's mixed. There are some people that are
converted, God's people, the saved of the Lord, and then there
are those who are the enemies of God, they're professing believers,
and they may in many, many ways externally appear to be like
the saved, but they're the children of the wicked one. And they're
the tares, called the tares by our Lord. The enemy that sowed
them, in verse 39, is the devil. The harvest is the end of the
world, and the reapers are the angels. So the devil has sowed
these evil ones, these wicked ones, and the harvest is coming. The grain has reached maturity. The tares have grown up alongside
them. and the farmer or the husbandry
of the Lord has been refused to go out and tear up the tares
while they were growing together. They were not to do that because
they would do mischief to the wheat and do harm to the wheat. So Jesus said you just let them
grow together until the harvest, but the time of the harvest has
come. The time has come. Now as I mentioned,
it's come up in our area, the harvest. And the harvest most
surely is coming. The end of the world is coming.
We believe in the ultimate triumph of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. And we believe that judgment
is in His hands. that the work of judgment belongs
to Him, and the judge of all the earth will do right. But
the Lord is going to send forth His angels, and they will come
forth, and they're the reapers, you know. The angels are the
reapers. Men are not the reapers. God
Himself will send the angels, and they will reap the harvest. As therefore the tares are gathered,
let both of them grow together, and in the time of harvest I
will say to the reapers, gather ye together first the tares,
and bind them. Now I'm talking about, when I'm
talking about the assembly of believers, I'm saying that there
are saved people and lost people in the church, that's what I'm
saying. And I'm saying that we do not have the qualifications
to discern who the saved and the lost are. Sometimes they
are so externally, as we said, alike that you cannot discern,
and we don't have the gift to discern. And so the Lord says,
you go first, angels, out there, and you gather together the tares,
and you bind them in bundles. And so the Lord, with His all-searching
eye, and Him knowing those whom He loves and knowing those whom
He chose before the foundation of the world, knowing those whom
He hath given to the Son in the love covenant, He, with His all-searching
eye, He knows who are those that are tares and who the wheat are. And so He sends these angels
out to gather these tares. And they bind them up. I said
last Sunday that men go to hell in bundles. Well, I'm reminded
of that again as I read these words. Our Lord will bind them
up, and they will burn them. They will be put into that furnace
of fire. The Lord said it in verse 40,
as therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall
it be in the end of this world. They will be gathered into that,
cast into a furnace of fire. The wicked shall come into judgment. God is going to separate. And this is a word to the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ and to those who are in it. A word,
we need to be reminded that not all Israel is Israel, that not
all those who profess are possessors of the truth and possessors of
eternal life. So then, they shall be cast into
the furnace of fire, there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
time of judgment, the wrath of God being poured out. All lost
sinners will perish forever and ever, the judgment of God coming
upon them. Then, in verse 43, shall the
righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father. Who hath ears to hear, let him
hear. Now then, I note that our Lord said in verse 30 at the
last part, He said, But gather the wheat into my barn. Gather
the wheat into my barn. The Lord's people are going home.
They're going to be with the Lord. They're going to be, as
it were, in His barn. We are, or those that know the
Lord Jesus Christ, are the wheat. And they're going to have an
eternity with our blessed God. But then he says that we're going
to shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father.
Think about a huge barn filled with gold and wheat. Those are
the treasures of the Lord. This is God's people. God's people,
their destiny is to be with the Lord. Eternal destiny to be with
their God and Father throughout eternity. Well, what a sobering
message. What a sobering thought. God
going to send His angels and separate between us. God going
to visit by His angels, and some of us going to be burned with
everlasting fire, and others of us be gathered as wheat into
God's barn. What a sobering, sobering message. And that brings me to these words
of our Lord when He said, Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. Who hath ears to hear this, let
him hear. And in Luke 8 and 18, he said,
take heed therefore how you hear. Take heed how you hear. For whosoever
hath the hymn shall be given, if you have any understanding,
and if the Spirit of God is in you enlightening you, then whosoever
hath, whosoever hath already heard shall hear more, and more,
and more. And whosoever hath not, who has
not the Spirit of God and spiritual enlightenment, from him shall
be taken, and even that which he seemeth to have. He seems
to have some, but that's going to be taken away. It'll be taken
away. And so the Lord said, take heed
therefore how ye hear. Take heed how you hear. Now I
want to give you five steps this morning as we close to the right
hearing, or five directions to the right hearing of the Word
of God. to the right hearing of it. Beloved,
it is of necessity we must hear or write the Word of God. We must hear the Word and we
must understand the Word in order that we would be able to react,
that we would be able to prepare ourselves for that day which
is coming even yea the end of the world. Well, now the first
question or the first statement that I would like to make, the
first direction to right hearing of the Word of God is, number
one, why are you listening to the Word to begin with? Why? Why are you here? That's the
question. Why are you here? Why are you
listening? Why do you want to come to a
place where the Word of God is opened up, where the scriptures
are read, and where there's an attempt made to set forth the
gospel of redeeming grace, why do you want to hear that? What is there about you that
makes you want to be in a place like this? I think that needs
to be answered. You know, if an individual goes
into a drugstore and they're seeking relief from some ache
or pain or some situation. You know, it behooves them to
know what their problem is. You go to a druggist and you
say, I'd like to have some help. And he says, well, what is your
problem? That's what he's going to ask
you, my friend. He's going to ask you what your problem is.
And so this morning, when you come into this place, I want
to say that I believe that it's necessary for a person to rightly
understand their condition in the light of what the Word of
God teaches in order for them to hear or write. Their condition. What is your condition? Well,
you say, well, I'm here, preacher, because I am a sinner. I'm a sinner, and I'm undone,
and I'm unclean, and I've got heart trouble, preacher. I've
got a problem. I need help, and that's why I'm
here. Well, bless the Lord, because
as I look over the Scriptures, and as I meditate on coming here,
and as I meditate standing up and preaching the Word of God,
I think about the same thing. I have needs. I have spiritual
needs. I need the Lord Jesus Christ,
and if you need Him, I'll tell you about Him. I'll tell you
about Him. You need a Savior? I'll tell
you. There's one that is set forth
on the pages of this Word. There is a Savior who can save
your soul and deliver you from the awful judgment that is coming. There's a Redeemer, one who has
brought back his people from the slave market of sin. Are
you a sinner? Well, you know, beloved, if you
are one like the Philippian jailer who cried out one time, What
must I do to be saved? And you say, well, I'm here and
I am that type of sinner. I need to be saved. I want to
be saved. Well, my friend, I believe if
you cry out and cry out to God, cry out to those who know Christ,
what must I do to be saved? I believe very long you're going
to hear the Word. I believe you're going to hear
something. You're going to hear God speak a word to you. You're
going to hear something that's going to relieve your soul. And
then I thought about the thief on the cross. And here he is
hanging there beside our Lord. And he says in a word, I know
that you're going to come back to life again after you die.
I know you're going to die just like I am. You're a righteous
man, I'm guilty. I'm getting what I deserve, but
I know you're coming back to life. And would you remember
me when thou comest into thy kingdom? Would you remember me?
And that's what he said, would you remember me? Now if you're
here this morning and you say I'm a sinner, And you're here
to hear the Word and to find out if God does save sinners. I'm telling you, why don't you
say to Him, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
I believe you'll hear something right away. I believe you'll
hear, today thou shalt be with me in paradise. I believe the
Lord will speak a word of pardon and a word of forgiveness to
your soul. And then you remember that publican.
You remember him as he smote on his breast and cried, God,
be merciful to me, a sinner. Beloved, I found out, I found
out that the Lord Jesus Christ is highly valued by real sinners,
by real sinners. I am amazed this shallow generation
of ours that there's so little love for the Lord Jesus Christ,
so little praise in the heart for a redeeming Savior. And it's
all because we are such shallow sinners. We just simply do not
know how great a sinner we are. But when that is discovered,
My friend, there will be a beating upon the breast. God, be thou
propitiated, be thou satisfied on my behalf. Lord, be merciful
to me, the sinner. And I believe that if that day
ever comes, that won't be long before you'll hear something
about going down to your house justified. My friend, you're
going to hear right when you understand your problem and understand
how great that problem is. There is a Savior, hallelujah,
that saves sinners. And so, can we answer the question,
what are we doing here? What are we here for? What are
we listening for to the Word of God? I hope it's for the reasons
that we've set forth this morning. And then the second thing is
this, that when you sit here and when
you hear the Word, this must be accepted as the Word of God. as the Word of God. If you're
going to hear a rite, I'm giving you direction as to how to hear
a rite. My friend, if you're going to
hear a rite, you must understand and get this notion out of your
head that this is the Word of the Preacher. No. In this church, this church is
dedicated to the setting forth of the Word of God. We believe
that all scripture is given by inspiration of God and that it's
God's word that holy men of God spake as they were moved by the
Holy Ghost to write the things in this book. That's what we
believe and we read a chapter as Brother Randy did this morning.
and we read a text. We read from the scripture not
only on Sunday but Wednesday night. The Word of God is honored
in this place. It's the Word of God and we need
to believe that when the Bible is set forth that we're talking
about God's Word and you remember how Paul commended in 1 Thessalonians
2 and 13 the Thessalonian believers and said that when they heard
the Word They received it not as the Word of Man or as the
Word of Men, but they received it as it was the Word of God. Now my friend, when you start,
when you come in here and say to yourself, I'm going to be
listening to the Word of God this morning. That's what I'm
going to be hearing. God's Word is going to be set forth. It's
being honored. And I'm listening to the Word
of God. Now when you're able to do that,
I think it will sober your heart and prepare you for hearing what
God's Word has to say. Now thirdly, and we must move
on, we must receive the Word for ourselves. This is the third
directive. We must receive the Word for
ourselves. Now I know that there's a lot
of preachers in the world and I know there's a lot of philosophy
and religious philosophy, a lot being said in our day and time
that we've got to go through and all of that. But we need to receive the Word
for ourselves. We need to hear what God has
to say to us. This is so important that we
understand that. In Luke 8 and 18, our Lord said,
Take heed therefore how ye hear. You say, well, the world's a
mess. And I know it is, but I'm not talking about the world.
I'm talking about ye. I'm talking about you and me. The Lord said, Take heed how
ye hear. You say, well that preacher sure
give it to so-and-so this morning. Well how about you? How about
you? What did you hear? We need to
hear for ourselves. You remember the story of David
after he had committed murder and adultery. You remember that
Nathan And he came in and David, I suppose,
was on the throne. But he came to him and he told
him, he said, I've got a story to tell you. I've got a word
from God. I've got a story to tell you.
And so he told David about this rich man who had many lambs and someone came to
him in a journey and instead of killing one of his own animals,
There was a man, a poor man, who had just one little ewe lamb
that he had bought and nourished up. And this rich man took that
lamb and he slew that lamb and fed it to his guests. David was
enraged and said, I'll take his head off. And Nathan said to
him, and you'll restore fourfold what he's done. And Nathan said
to him, Thou art the man. Thou art the man. You're the
man. Now, beloved, when you start
coming into this place and the word of God is read, a holy soberness
come over you, solemnity of heart and soul, and you begin to say,
That word is for me. That word is for my soul. That's sent from God to me. I need to hear that word. Now, you see, this is so important. I hardly know how to leave it. But we must understand that it's
for ourselves. It's for ourselves. And we need
to hear that way. And you can't be coming in here
with a pitchfork, throwing everything that's said over your shoulder
to the person behind you. You come in here and say it's
for me. I come this morning, I'm a sinner, I'm in need, I
expect to hear the Word of God, and it's for me, and I'm going
to take it just that way. Alright, that brings me to the
fourth place, or the fourth thing. And that is that the Word must
be, when it's preached and when we're listening to it, must be
believed. It must be believed. Now, I understand
that there's a lot of things in the Bible that you don't understand,
and there's a lot in the Bible I don't understand. I understand this, that many,
many people cannot believe, and the reason they can't believe
is because they're not of his sheep. But I understand also
that the believer, the true believer, the sheep of Christ, they believe
a lot of things they can't understand. They do. If the Word of God teaches
it, I believe it. Now you see, friend, what you
need to do is not bring the truths of Scripture to your intellect
and say, well, if I can't understand it, I'm not going to believe
it. I've heard a few smart answers that way given. When somebody
says something to a man about his soul or about some Bible
truth, they say, well, if I can't understand it, I'm not going
to believe it. Well, you'll go to hell with that attitude. I'm
going to tell you, we need to believe what the Word of God
says. Whether we can understand. You need to bring your intellect,
hear me, to the feet of the Lord and lay it down. And you need
to believe what the Word of God says. Just believe the book.
Believe the Holy Word of God. Believe it in your heart. The
Bible says that without faith it is impossible to please Him.
He that cometh to Him must believe that He is, and that He is a
rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. You must believe the
Word. You remember when Paul was out
on the ship, and a big storm came up, and the Lord appeared,
the angel of God appeared to him and said, The ship's going
to be lost, but not a one on board this ship is going to perish.
You're all going to be saved. And Paul told the people on the
ship, he said, that's what God said to me, and I believe it
shall be just as it was told me. That's how it's going to
be. And that's the way it was, just like God told him. And that's
the way the Word of God is. It's true. It's truth. It's truth. No error. It's truth. Believe the Word of God. Don't
sit there and toy around with it and say, well, that's what
so and so, you know, that's what he says. Well, forget that stuff. Get the book. Study the book.
Read the book. You got an obligation. You're
going to burn in the furnace if you don't hear right. You've
got ears, now hear, write, believe the word. And that brings me
to the last directive. And that is that we must be prepared. We must have a will given to
us by God to act on the word, to obey it when we hear it. Folks,
we need help. if we're going to obey the Word
of God. No man has ever yet obeyed God who wasn't helped to do it. Unless God enables you to, you
will never obey. You will sit, and you will sit,
and you will sit until the angels come, the reapers, to separate
you out of this group. and burn you in the fire unless
God gives you the will and the disposition to obey His Word. I'll share just a couple of verses
and then we're going to close. But turn to the book of Acts
chapter 10 with me and I'll illustrate this truth to you. Acts chapter
10. You remember this man named Cornelius,
the centurion. He was a very devout man, prayed
to God always, and he was told as he prayed one day, Thy prayers and thine alms are
come up for a memorial before God, and now send men to Joppa
and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter. He lodgeth
with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the seaside, He shall
tell thee what thou oughtest to do. He'll tell you what you
ought to do. And then we look a little further
over. And we see where that he sent for
Peter. And he came. And as Peter was
coming in in verse 25, Cornelius met him and fell down at his
feet and worshipped him, but Peter took him up saying, Stand
up, I myself also am a man. And he talked with him, and he
went in and found many that were come together. And he said unto
them, You know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that
is a Jew to keep company or come into one of another nation. But
God has showed me I should not call any man common. Therefore
came I unto you without gain, saying, As soon as I was sent
for, I ask therefore for what intent you have sent for me.
And Cornelius then explains to him about the experience he had
wherein God told him what to do. And immediately he says in
verse 33, I sent to thee, and thou hast well done that thou
art come. Now therefore are we all here
present before God to hear all things that are commanded thee
of God. I want you to think with me just
a moment Wouldn't it be something if this congregation would come
together on Sunday morning, and you would appoint a spokesman,
and this spokesman would come to the preacher, and he would
say, Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear
all things that are commanded thee of God. In other words,
what God has told you to tell us, we're here to hear that. We're here to hear it. That's
what we're here for. We're here to hear what God has
to say. Has God got a word for us preachers? One of the curses
of our day is the silence of God. Preachers preaching out
of their own hearts. Not having a word from the Lord. That's a curse in this day. But
it would be something. The preacher would study harder,
he'd pray more. If people come in with that attitude,
we want to hear what the Lord has commanded you to tell us.
Now another example of this, and we'll close, is found back
in the book of Jeremiah, chapter 42. the people had come together,
the least to the greatest, and they came near to Jeremiah the
prophet, and said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let we beseech thee
our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us
unto the Lord thy God, even for all this remnant, for we are
left but a few of many, as thine eyes behold us, that the Lord
thy God may show us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that
we may do. Then Jeremiah the prophet said
to them, I have heard you. Behold, I will pray unto the
Lord your God according to your words, and it shall come to pass
that whatsoever thing the Lord shall answer you, I will declare
it unto you. I will keep nothing back from
you. I'll tell you what God tells
me. Then they said to Jeremiah, the
Lord be a true and faithful witness between us. If we do not, even
according to all things for which the Lord thy God shall send thee
to us. Whether it be good or whether
it be evil, listen to this, we will obey the voice of the Lord
our God, whatever it is. If it be evil, if it be against
us, Or if it be in our favor, we will obey the voice of our
God. That's the way you hear from
God, is with that kind of an attitude. Now we know that these
people were liars. It's evident they were as you
read the rest of this chapter. Because they were accused of
lying when they said this. But this is the proper and right
attitude of those who hear the Lord. To whom we send thee, we will
listen to the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we send thee,
that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord
our God. And it came to pass after ten
days that the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah and told him
what to tell him. Don't go down into Egypt. What
you feel will come on you if you go down to Egypt. If you
stay where you're at, you're going to be okay. I'm going to
fight for you. I'm going to deliver you. And then in verse 19, the
Lord has said, Concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah, go ye
not into Egypt? No, certainly, that I have admonished
you this day. For ye dissembled in your hearts
when ye sent me unto the Lord your God, saying, Pray for us
unto the Lord our God, and according to all that the Lord our God
shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it. Their hearts
were not right. And now I have this day declared
it to you, but ye have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God,
nor anything for the which he hath sent me unto you. You haven't done it. Is it serious
to hear the voice of God and not act, not obey? It's serious. It's very serious. Very serious. Because it will
bring you into judgment. It may be that you'll be a tear
rooted up by the reapers and cast into the furnace because
you heard not the voice of God and did not obey the voice of
God. I've given you these five directives
to help you hear or write the Word of God. How serious these
things are. Remember this parable and think
on the things that you've heard here this morning. And may God
be pleased to give light into your soul. Some of you have trifled
with holy things too long, entirely too long. The end is coming,
my friend. And it's time for you to obey
the voice of the Lord. To hear and to obey the voice
of the Lord. Remember these things. Let us
pray. Father, remember our hearts and
our needs this morning. I do ask you that you will bless
and bring forth fruit in the lives of these that have heard
the Word. And Lord, these that have trifled, we pray for mercy
for them. Oh God, don't cut them off. O
God, let us preach to them again. O God, let us have another word
for them. Enable us, O Lord, to speak for
them in the fear of the Lord and to speak as thy servant ought
to speak. Lord, be merciful and spare and
save, we pray. Lord, encourage the children
of the kingdom and lift them up and bless them and help them,
O Lord, that they may hear better also, that we all may be able
to add to what Thou hast already given us, that it shall not be
taken from us what we have. We pray in Jesus' name, for His
sake. Amen.